1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to baking and roasting utensils, and, more specifically, to a multipurpose baking and roasting rack.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous designs have been proposed for supports or racks for roasting poultry and other items in a conventional oven The various supports or racks center around two themes. The first is to have a centrally located upstanding member which can be used to support poultry for roasting in a conventional oven. These designs typically utilize a number of substantially closed wire loops which cooperate with each other to define a hollow bulbous shaped member which protrudes upwardly from a drip pan or cooking tray. One of the advantages of this type of rack is that heat is evenly distributed throughout the bird being roasted and its fat and grease are permitted to drip directly into the pan.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,773, issued to the Assignee of the subject application, discloses such a holder which includes two bent wire interlocking elements, the free ends of which are attached to the peripheral rim of the drip pan. Each of the two cooperating bent wires form a centrally upward extending loop which are suitable for insertion into the cavity of the poultry to be roasted.
Other roasting supports of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,665, and racks designed without drip pans are shown in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 253,156 and 270,608.
A disadvantage of these racks is that their use is limited by the fact that the centrally upstanding member is suitable for few uses other than roasting poultry.
Other racks have been disclosed for cooking foods, such as potatoes or artichokes. In these types of racks, the rack is typically formed of a pair of wires which are bent and closed on each other so as to form a cradle for an item of food which can be received or nested on the rack. Such a rack is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,188.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,768, issued to the Assignee of the subject application, discloses a multi-purpose rack which is suitable both for baking and roasting. This rack discloses a plurality of generally vertically oriented skewer rods positioned above a drip pan, each adapted to pierce and support a food item to be baked or roasted. An advantage to this device is that it allows numerous items to be cooked at the same time. With the racks of previous design, only a single bird could be roasted per rack. The rack disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,768, however, allows numerous items such as potatoes or apples to be baked at the same time using one rack. A disadvantage to this rack is that the central space of the rack is not efficiently utilized. When the rack is assembled for use, and items to be baked are placed upon the skewers, the central space is left open.